Ukraine Latest: Harris Will Meet With Polish Leader Morawiecki

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(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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The US Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the leak of highly classified Pentagon documents about how the US spies on foreign countries, including an assessment of weaknesses in Ukraine’s military.

Belarus is seeking formal security guarantees from Russia, its closest ally, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

  • Russia Wrongfully Detains WSJ Reporter, State Department Finds

  • DOJ Is Probing Leaked Defense Documents on Ukraine, Allies

  • What We Know About Alleged Leaks of US Spying Over Ukraine: Q&A

  • Macron Urges Europe Strategic Autonomy Amid US-China Tension

(All times CET)

Morawiecki Will Meet Harris on US Visit (5:35 a.m.)

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the Polish leader visits Washington to meet with US weapons manufacturers.

The pair will discuss security and energy issues — including Poland’s civil nuclear program, according to a White House official. Last year, Poland selected US-based Westinghouse Electric Company LLC to help construct three nuclear reactors after lobbying by Harris and other senior US officials.

The visit also comes as the Biden administration is seeking to shore up its international alliance to help Ukraine following the leak of apparently classified documents that appeared to show intelligence gathered from US partners.

Blinken Makes Official Determination on Gershkovich (3:30 a.m.)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has formally determined that Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been wrongfully detained by Russia, a finding that authorizes the US to negotiate on his behalf.

“Journalism is not a crime,” Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement on Monday. “We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth.”

Blinken had already assailed Gershkovich’s detention on espionage charges, telling reporters that “in my own mind, there’s no doubt that he’s being wrongfully detained by Russia.” But the State Department was still going through the process of making that finding official.

US Opens Criminal Probe into Document Leaks (3:57 p.m.)

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the leak of highly classified Pentagon documents about how the US spies on foreign countries, including an assessment of weaknesses in Ukraine’s military.

“We have been in communication with the Department of Defense related to this matter and have begun an investigation,” the department said in a statement. “We decline further comment.”

The documents appeared online last month and the Pentagon has stood up an interagency effort to assess the impact of the leak.

Ukraine, Russia Prisoner Swap Largest Since January (3:50 p.m.)

Ukraine and Russia conducted the largest exchange of prisoners since January, officials on both sides said.

Kyiv received 100 soldiers, sailors, border guards, and national guardsmen from Mariupol and Gostomel, according to Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak. Russia’s Defense Ministry said 106 of its service members were returned under the agreement.

“It was a difficult exchange,” Yermak said in Twitter.

Ukraine Inflation Slows For Third Straight Month (3:05 p.m.)

Consumer-price growth slowed for the third straight month in March as lower global commodity prices combined with Ukraine’s tight monetary policies and base effects.

The consumer price index grew 21.3% from a year earlier in March, down from 24.9% in February, the State Statistics Service said.

Ukraine’s inflation has been slowing since the beginning of the year, largely due to the base effect, as price growth soared a year earlier in the early weeks of Russia’s invasion.

Russia to Spend Exit Fees for Foreign Firms on Tourist Sector (2:01 p.m.)

Russia will earmark the ‘voluntary’ fees it plans to charge investors from ‘unfriendly’ countries to sell their assets for developing tourist infrastructure, according to a new order from President Vladimir Putin.

The instruction came after a meeting on new steps to develop Crimea, the tourism-dependent region which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukraine Resumes Exports of Electricity to Moldova After Attacks (1:10 p.m.)

Ukrenergo said it sold surplus electricity to Moldova for the first time since a wave of Russian attacks on power infrastructure began last fall.

The grid operator sold 330 megawatts of power in its first auction, it said. Another auction is planned to deliver 80 MWt to Poland and Slovakia may get exports in the future, as well. Ukraine resumed electricity export as it has a surplus, country’s Energy Ministry said last week.

Belarus Seeks Formal Security Guarantees From Russia, Lukashenko Says (11:53 a.m.)

Belarus has asked Russia to provide formal security guarantees as tensions with the US and its allies mount, President Lukashenko said, according to the official Belta news service.

Lukashenko said he had raised the issue of protecting his country from “aggression” in talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who agreed to do a thorough review of existing agreements between the two allies and determine what legal act would be needed to ensure Belarus’ security.

Lukashenko spoke at a meeting in Minsk with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said he would discuss the continued presence of Russian troops in Belarus and expanding cooperation. The Belta report made no mention of Moscow’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which have drawn criticism from the US and its allies.

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